Supreme Court sends case challenging both the individual mandate and the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act back to appeals court

The U.S. Supreme Court sent the Liberty University v. Geithner case back to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. Liberty University had been challenging both the individual mandate and the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) based on claims of violation of religious freedom and claims that it was beyond Congress’s powers under the Constitution. The Fourth Circuit had previously ruled on procedural grounds that Liberty could not sue to stop the mandates. The Supreme Court’s order means that the Fourth Circuit must review the case given the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this year that the individual mandate was constitutional. The Supreme Court has not addressed the employer mandate.